My Top 12 Songs of 2025

Listen to some of my favorite tunes that I found this year!

Hello, friends, and welcome back to another post from The Kindness Cafe! I can’t believe 2025 is already coming to a close.

This year, a lot of exciting things happened:

1) In June, I met up in person with my writing community for the second time.

2) I started my second draft of my WIP, Project Royalty!

3) My short story (Cecil’s Conundrum) came out in the bestselling cozy fantasy anthology Firefly Tales!

But amid all the busyness, music has been a stable part of my life, and that’s why I’ve decided to share my top songs of the year for the second year in a row.

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Here’s my top songs from 2024 (last year!)

My Top 12 Songs of the Year

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Note: The YouTube links below go mainly to music videos if I could find one, because the creators of the songs also invest a ton of time and energy in the music video as well as the songs…so I’m including both.

There’s a lot to get into, so let’s get started!

My Top Twelve Songs of 2025

1. No Longer You (part of EPIC: The Musical) by Jorge Rivera-Herrans and Mason Olshavsky

   “No Longer You” is one of my favorite EPIC songs, and seeing as it didn’t make the list last year, I thought I’d remedy that. This song is part of a concept musical about the Odyssey, featuring a physic prophet and a lost Odysseus trying to get information out of him. If you’d like to learn more about EPIC, read my blog post(s) all about it!

2. The Rider by Paris Paloma

Paris Paloma has been a favorite artist of mine this year, and one of my favorite songs of hers was “The Rider” (from The Lord of The Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, which I haven’t watched yet!). Her musicality is ethereal in this song, and it’s definitely worth a listen!

3. Loneliest Girl In The World by Noah Floersch

This song caught my attention from the very first second. I love the simple piano and effortless voice combination so much — and it also reminds me of “Eleanor Rigby” by the Beatles!

4. if you were a worm (bonus track) by Lizzy Hilliard

I’ve listened to Lizzy Hilliard for two years now, and her songs are always so whimsical and well thought out. This one is no exception; it’s so cute and cozy and I love it so much!

5. Runnin’ by Pharrell Williams

My first exposure to Pharrell Williams was in Despicable Me 2, when he sang the song “Happy.” Happy not only became a staple song in our household, but now I keep an eye out for whenever Pharrell appears on a new soundtrack. His song “Runnin’” in the movie Hidden Figures is one of my favorites!

6. Watch What Happens (from Newsies: The Broadway Musical) by Kara Lindsey

If you know me, you know I love Newsies, and more specifically, Katherine Plumber, the New York Sun reporter that finally gets her big break during the newsies’ strike. With my writing really taking off this year, I decided to include it — not only because it’s an amazing song, but because it’s an homage to my dreams that are finally coming true!

Content Warning: Slight bit of language in second verse.

7. The Place to Be by Freya Skye, Milo Manheim, Meg Donnelly, & the ZOMBIES cast

ZOMBIES 4 came out this year (see my review here), and one song that immediately grabbed my attention was “The Place To Be”. It has a boppy beat, good lyrics, and a great cast!

8. The Ballad of Floyd Collins by the Original Broadway Cast of Floyd Collins (2025)

I found out about Floyd Collins through a friend and decided to give it a listen because of Jeremy Jordan (who also played Jack Kelly in Newsies). Jordan plays the titular character, Floyd, and I was so sucked in by this opening song that I couldn’t help but include it.

9. Jane Fairfax Plays Mozart Sonata in F (from the 2021 EMMA.) by Amber Anderson

I love soundtrack music, so I couldn’t help but include Jane Fairfax’s incredibly complex performance of “Mozart Sonata in F.” Fun fact: Amber Anderson actually learned how to play all of Jane’s music, including this one!

10. Rainmaker by Janani K. Jha and Scott Hoying

I’ve followed Janani for a long time (her song “The Maze” was on last year’s songs of the year and she was in EPIC: The Musical as Aphrodite), but I think her collaboration with Scott Hoying is one of my favorite songs of hers. The clever lyrics, effortless vocals, and incredible instrumentals make this song amazing.

11. The Book by Alexandre Desplat

If you’ve seen my unboxing reel, you might have heard “The Book” underneath my voice! This song plays at the end of Little Women (2021) at a pivotal change in Jo March’s life as an author. I recently had my own Jo March moment and it felt too important not to share.

12. Appalachia by Rebecca Rea

“Appalachia” is a folky song with a great beat and good lyrics! I fell in love with this song and definitely needed to include it.

I also wanted to mention my top artist of the year (for the second year running)! His name is Jorge Rivera-Herrans, and if you’ve ever heard of EPIC the Musical, he’s the creator! EPIC the Musical is a retelling of the Odyssey. If you’re looking for something new to listen to, I’d recommend starting here! Make sure to listen to it in order!

I’d love to know your favorite songs of 2025 in the comments below. I hope you have a wonderful day!

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